Protecting your identity & data… responsibly

QUESTION:  Where should you keep your computer passwords? Computer users can choose passwords that have meaning for them that incorporate both letters and numbers, ensuring security while enabling them to be easily remembered.  No need to ever write down passwords in a public space.

These days our teachers are keeping their student grades on the district’s network system and saving sensitive data files in network folders.  In addition, records of all types are stored electronically on our servers.  Securing that data by keeping our passwords in our heads, and using a locking screen saver on our desktop and laptop computers is an important step toward protecting our in-school identities and information.

In the end, it’s about taking personal responsibility for the use of our network computer resources. In the lingo of the day, exercising “sound digital citizenship” is what it’s all about.  For our District Technology staff to encounter a user’s login passwords and id’s written on the side of a school district computer indicates that we’re failing to communicate just how important it is to exercise good digital citizenship.

All of us, staff, faculty… any school district employees… have a responsibility to provide examples of responsible use of school property–whether it be a desk or desktop computer.  Our students deserve no less.

Malware… watch out!

The past few weeks have been loaded with activity that none of us need:  removing “malware” from computers in our schools.  Cindy, Gayla and I have been dealing with sporadic malware infections in the district.  What is malware?  Simply put, malware is a category of malicious software intended to pull information off your school or home PC and send it to anonymous users on the Internet.

If you suspect that a “fake security risk” window has popped open on your school (or home) computer, DO NOT CLICK ON IT!  Typically, these malware programs are delivered to your computer via trojans, a form of computer virus that sits silently on your PC until activated by a click or a program from outside on the Internet.  Fake security software in millions of computers_Reuters.com

What can you do about it?  If you suspect that you are receiving a fake security risk window on your workstation here at school, please call the District Technology Office and talk with Gayla or Cindy.  They will help remove the risk from your computer.

At home, we recommend using a program such as Ad-Aware Pro in conjunction with your antivirus program that specifically monitors your computer for intrusion by malware that most antivirus programs may not detect. In the end, be sure to use your common sense and never click on a link or button, if you do not know what the requested action is for.

Introducing our new website

Honestly, the new Walton CSD website has been a long time coming…  but we’re liking what we’ve placed out for our constuency to access.

Now, we’re looking for your input and use of the site to help us better build it to suit your needs.    The new site includes plenty of new features that were not available to us before.

Some highlights:

• Top level, drop-down navigation
• Home page “aggregation” with information from key areas of the site being presented for easy user access
• Centralized document storage for all key school documents
• Calendar information that is unified with our PowerSchool Parent Portal and Daily Bulletins

Of course, we have a lot more planned and some areas are still under construction.  We anticipate a full rollout of the site in April.

We welcome your comments and suggestions.  Please respond by commenting and we’ll review your suggestions. Thanks!

Is “acceptable” fashionable?

Not a day goes by when a user in our schools isn’t ducking “acceptable use” guidelines in one way or another.  In a world populated with Wi-Fi and cellular enabled handheld devices, talking about acceptable use seems to have gone out of fashion!

“Of course I should be able to pickup my e-mail or check the weather while I walk down the hall!” muses a teacher wielding his iPod Touch as he joins the stream of students changing classes.  Sure. And we can’t just remove ourselves from the reality. Apple is pushing the Touch in the classroom…  “netbooks” are popping out of pockets, purses and backpacks…  The best defense?  A good offense!

Clear Guidelines to the Rescue

“Rules that do not provide sufficient clarity can be attacked on the grounds that they are unconstitutionally vague. Courts have declined to apply criminal standards for the determination of vagueness in the educational environment because it is recognized that school officials need flexibility to respond to the unexpected and school sanctions do not reach the level of criminal sanctions. Courts have upheld as sufficiently clear such terms as “willful disobedience”, intentional disruption”, and “vulgarity” in a school setting.”

Nancy Willard  K-12 Acceptable Use Policies

A decade old white paper on acceptable use policies by Jim Peterson (acceptable-use-policy-white-paper) provides a timeless starting point for considering the elements of a good policy.  Although the technology is ever-changing, the baseline for considering what can and cannot be done within an educational environment is based upon very basic rules.  In addition, authors such as Willard and educational organizations nationwide have compiled excellent resources for developing clear, future-oriented AUP’s that embrace technology change–and not at the expense of academic goals.

The CTAP Region 4 Project serving the Bay Area schools in California provides a number of resources for Acceptable Use Policies as well as related cyber safety and etiquette issues.  The appendix from Nancy Willard’s 2007 book, Cyberbullying and Cyberthreats:  Responding to the Challenge of Online Social Agression, Threats and Distress, is a particularly useful resource from the CTAP’s page. You can download it here, as well:  Appendix H – District Internet Use Policy

Data Safety…

“How many of you know that you have a good backup of your school financial data.” I asked.  A few hands in the room went up…  “And how many know WHERE the backup is kept?”  One or two hands more.

Data safety and security are tough questions that I addressed to the two dozen school business officials gathered for their quarterly meeting.   Below I’ve posted the two PowerPoint presentations covering some of the session along with PDF versions of the presentation materials.

Data Safeguards PowerPoint data-safeguards1

twas-the-night-before twas-the-night-before1

data-contingency-operation-asbo data-contingency-operation-asbo1

Contact me:   tmcnerney@waltoncsd.stier.org for a copy of the Disaster Recovery Excel worksheet.

“Exceling” the infrastructure

This past week we completed a full upgrade of the district infrastructure: new Ethernet switches, buzzed up fiber backbones and a 10Gb fiber link between the two campuses. Here’s an overview:

If you build it…

Just a quick GoogleApps follow-up:  since nearly three dozen teachers received training last year, GoogleApps has taken off in the area of student activities.  Student Council began using Docs to create collaborative items right away, and this past June, just before school ended, Mr. LeParr leveraged Calendar to help all student club advisors setup calendars that can now be displayed simultaneously from the Google Cal feature.

As we head into the new school year for 2008-09, we’ll be bringing Google Sites on-line as well. This “wiki on steroids” is the newest addition to the GoogleApps suite. Checkout this example from Google’s site and consider the possibilities!

Out with the old…

The hallway by the Cafeteria tells it all: technology turnover. That’s the name of the game, whether in school, at home or in business. The computers and peripherals pictured here are well past their useful life.

But they aren’t just landfilled. In a combined effort of Central Office, Technology Services and Custodial we:

• Collect
• Remove from inventory
• Receive Board of Education approval for disposal
• Pallet and shrink wrap
• Ship to BOCES

Once at the DCMO BOCES, they will be picked up by a firm that actually recycles many of the outdated machines, returning a small amount to the district for the palleted computers. We maintain a life-cycle replacement program for our computers, so each year some units will finally come out of active use and be prepped for disposal.

In the meantime, the technology train chugs on: Vista, Leopard, USB 3.0…

A Google Docs Primer

OK. You’re ready to begin using Google Docs. You have your UserID and Password; you’ve participated in the Google Apps Orientation either at the HS/MS or at Townsend Elementary. If you’re looking for a step-by-step and some learning resources, you’re at the right place!

Signing into Google Docs:

1. Go to http://home.waltoncsd.org and click on the Google Docs link.
2. You should be at the Google Docs login. Type in your Username (your Walton CSD login name, and then type in your password in the password field. Click Sign In. (Note: DO NOT check “Remember me on this computer” on your school computer! However, it’ll save you time at your home computer.)

Uploading a Document:

Since most teachers create their documents (Word docs, PowerPoints or Excel spreadsheets) right on their school computer, you may want to begin using Google Docs by uploading any of these three different types of documents from your school or home computer: word processing, spreadsheet or presentation.

On the Google Docs folder page (Google Docs Home), click on the Upload button located in the upper left-hand corner of the menu bar. This will open up the browse window. You may upload from:

1. Your network folder
2. A local resource such as a floppy disk, cd-rom or your computer’s hard drive
3. A web-based location

Once you have selected the document, you may upload it with the same name or choose to rename it by typing the new name in the “What do you want to call it?” box. Simply click the Upload File button to complete the transfer of your file to your Google Docs The browser window will open with your document, ready to edit!

Editing and creating: that’s the key to Google Docs. Unlike so many services that provide storage, this space also provides the TOOLS to make working on typical documents a possibility from anywhere. The applications in Google Docs are entirely web-based: used right from a browser such as Internet Explorer, Firefox or Safari.

Sharing your documents:

The power of Google Docs is also in its collaborative features: users whom you’ve invited to view or edit the document can work on it simultaneously, with revision tracking built right into the space. Inviting others to collaborate with you is as easy as clicking on the Share tab while you are editing a document. A new window will open, that provides you with space to invite people as collaborators or as viewers.

You may share with a user inside the waltoncsd.org domain or outside. Once you click Invite collaborators you will be presented with an invitation form that is e-mailed to the people you’ve chosen to share with.

It’s easy to skip this (just click Skip) step if an invitation isn’t needed. From this point on, your document will be viewable and editable by those you’ve chosen to share with.

NOTE:  You may want to leave the Advanced permissions unchecked. They can allow collaborators to invite others–something you may not want to do. Also, by unchecking the “Invitations may be used by anyone”, you eliminate the potential use of your invitations by others for mailing list purposes.

As with any collaborative space, give some thoughts to just how you want to use it BEFORE you begin sending out invitations!!

Getting “smarter” all the time

When Mrs. Lori Rosa attended the SMART Board training given by Todd Rutan at the DCMO BOCES this summer, she was joined by a core group of teachers from Walton Central School who know that up-to-date visual aides make a big difference with students. Mrs. Rosa has been using a ceiling-mounted projector for the past year to bring information to the screen for her classes.

Today, though, she’s the first teacher here at Walton CSD to really get “smart“! Rich Miller and John Jackson mounted the new 77″ diagonal SMART Board this morning. Within a few minutes Mrs. Rosa was using the new interactive whiteboard with her classes. “It’s great!”, she commented as her students stepped up to the board to investigate.

Over the next several weeks Rich and John will be mounting the remaining 9 SMART Boards purchased under our 2007-08 IPA. With this first implementation of the interactive boards, teachers in all three schools will be able to bring a smarter approach to classroom instruction.